2nd Annual Dog Days of Summer Photo Contest: How Voting Works & How to Win

What the Dog Days of Summer Photo Contest is and who runs it

The 2nd Annual Dog Days of Summer Photo Contest is a dog photo fundraiser built around public voting. It is run by FirstCap Gives Back, the organization behind the FirstCap Gives Back Foundation, whose postal address sits in Pennsylvania. The ballot sits on the GoGo Photo Contest site, a dedicated photo contest platform, at gogophotocontest.com/firstcapgivesback. Dog owners register their pets as entries, and supporters then vote for their favorite photos during the voting period.

The program's own title marks the 2025 run as its second annual edition, and the ballot site frames the whole event as a fundraiser for the Foundation rather than a commercial promotion. Because the vertical is pets, the entries are dogs and the audience is dog owners plus the friends, family and coworkers they rally, largely across Pennsylvania where First Capital FCU operates the branches tied to the contest's thank you gift. The ballot's own navigation lists View Entries, Participate, Contest Rules, Prizes, Rules and About Us tabs alongside a Sign In link, which gives supporters everything they need in a single place.

The dated record for the 2025 Dog Days of Summer run

The confirmed edition year for this program is 2025, and the contest's own name calls that run the second annual edition. The voting window for 2025 was printed on the ballot: it started at midnight, 12:00 AM Eastern Time, on Friday, August 1, 2025, and closed at noon, 12:00 PM Eastern Time, on Monday, August 25, 2025. By the close of that window the ballot carried a notice that the contest has ended.

During the live window the site displayed a fundraising leaderboard showing $3,020 raised, with Dante leading at 1,426 votes, Winston Churchill March at 650, Luna at 172 and Lady at 130. Beyond that window the organizer has posted nothing about the next cycle's dates or any entry round that might precede voting; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

The ballot also does not print a category list, a cap on repeat voting, or eligibility rules for voters, so those details stay unknown between runs. The Contest Rules and Prizes tabs exist on the site, but the voting information published for 2025 does not spell out what they contain for this fundraiser.

How a supporter votes in the Dog Days of Summer contest

Voting happens entirely on the GoGo Photo Contest ballot at gogophotocontest.com/firstcapgivesback. A supporter opens the site, chooses View Entries, browses the registered dogs, and casts a vote for the photo they want to back. The ballot carries a Sign In option, so an account may be part of the flow, but the published voting information does not state whether a login is required before a vote counts. How often a person can return and vote again during the window is likewise not stated anywhere on the ballot.

Registered participants get a physical thank you as well. Once a dog is registered, the owner can stop into any First Capital FCU branch between August 5 and August 25, 2025 and mention that their dog is in the contest to pick up a Pet Bandanna as a gift for participating. That branch perk ties the online ballot to First Capital FCU's physical locations across Pennsylvania and gives the fundraiser a local, in-person footprint alongside the online vote.

For anyone arriving after the 2025 close, the ballot's notice that the contest has ended is the signal to wait rather than vote, and the same site is where the next window will appear when the organizer posts it.

Where this ballot sits among Pennsylvania's public-vote programs

Within Pennsylvania's public-vote landscape, this photo contest sits beside a mix of pet fundraisers and readers' choice ballots. The Dachshund Rescue of Bucks County and NJ Cutie Pie Calendar Contest is the closest neighbor in spirit, since it also turns pet photos into a voted calendar fundraiser.

The rest of the neighborhood leans toward best-of journalism: Best of Berks from Berks County Living Magazine, Best of Philly from Philadelphia Magazine, Best of the 'Burgh, Best of the Lehigh Valley from Lehigh Valley Style, and the Bucks County & Chester County Readers' Choice from suburban newspapers.

Its subject and its beneficiary are what set the Dog Days of Summer ballot apart from that whole field. Entries are individual dogs, votes are cast for photos rather than businesses or services, and the fundraiser supports the FirstCap Gives Back Foundation. A reader who enjoys voting in any of those Pennsylvania contests will find the photo-contest format familiar, but the pull here is a favorite dog's face rather than a local brand, and the host is a credit union's giving program rather than a magazine or newspaper group.

Strengthening support for a dog on this ballot

Support for a dog in this contest comes down to moving people to the ballot itself. Share the dog's entry page directly with friends and family, since the vote happens on the GoGo Photo Contest site rather than on social media. The 2025 leaderboard, where Dante's 1,426 votes stood well ahead of the 650 behind Winston Churchill March, shows how much steady momentum during the window matters. Owners who registered also had the branch perk to talk about, and mentioning the Pet Bandanna pickup at First Capital FCU branches gave friends a concrete reason to look up the contest. For broader tactics that fit any public-vote ballot, see our votes guide at get more votes online.